Cannon "Dora" - a weapon of the Second World War: description, characteristics

Three years before the outbreak of World War II, Hitler instructed the management of the Krupp concern to develop a heavy-duty long-range gun capable of penetrating concrete reinforcements of up to seven meters in thickness and a meter armor. The implementation of this project was a super powerful cannon "Dora", named after the wife of its chief designer, Erich Muller.

The first samples of superheavy guns

By the time the Führer came up with such an ambitious idea, the German industry already had experience in the production of artillery monsters. At the end of the First World War, Paris was fired upon with a battery consisting of three superheavy guns of the "Colossal" system. The trunks of these monsters had a caliber of two hundred and seven millimeters and sent their shells over a distance of over a hundred kilometers, which at that time was considered a record.

However, the calculation of the damage caused by this battery to the French capital showed that its real efficiency is insignificant. With exceptional range, the accuracy of the penetration of guns was extremely low, and it was possible to fire from them not specific objects, but only huge areas.

Only a small part of the shells fell into residential houses or other structures. The guns were mounted on railway platforms, and at least eighty people were required to service each of them. Considering, moreover, their high cost, it turned out that the costs for them in many respects exceeded the damage that they were able to inflict on the enemy.

Disgrace of the Treaty of Versailles

At the end of the war, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, among other restrictions, imposed a ban on Germany for the production of guns, the caliber of which exceeded one hundred and fifty millimeters. It is for this reason that for the leadership of the Third Reich it was a matter of prestige, to amend the article of a humiliating treaty for them, to create a cannon that could surprise the world. As a result, and appeared "Dora" - a weapon of retribution for the restrained national pride.

Creating an artillery monster

The work on the creation of the project and the production of this monster took five years. The super-heavy railway gun "Dora" with its technical parameters exceeded fantasy and common sense. Despite the fact that the projectile, which was emitted from it, caliber eight hundred and thirteen millimeters, flew only fifty kilometers, it was capable of penetrating seven meters of reinforced concrete, a meter armor and an earthen reinforcement of thirty meters in thickness.

Problems associated with the use of tools

However, these, undoubtedly, high indicators lost their meaning, given that the gun with extremely low fire sighting required truly large-scale maintenance and operating costs. It is known, for example, that the position occupied by the railway gun "Dora" was at least four and a half kilometers. The entire installation was delivered in disassembled form, and its installation took up to a month and a half, for which two 110-ton cranes were required.

The combat calculation of such a gun consisted of five hundred men, but, in addition, a battalion of security and a transport battalion attached to them. For the delivery of ammunition involved two railroad train and another power train. In general, the staff required to service one such gun, was one and a half thousand people. To feed so many people, there was even a field bakery. From all this it is clear that "Dora" is an instrument that requires incredible costs for its operation.

The first attempt to use the tool

For the first time, the Germans tried to use their new offspring against the British to destroy the defensive structures they built in Gibraltar. But immediately there was a problem with transportation through the territory of Spain. In a country that had not yet recovered from the civil war, it was not necessary to transport such a monster of load-lifting bridges and roads. Moreover, the dictator Franco in every way prevented this, not wanting at the time to draw the country into a military clash with the Western allies.

The transfer of the gun to the eastern front

In view of these circumstances, the Dora's superheavy gun was sent to the eastern front. In February 1942, it arrived in the Crimea, where it was placed at the disposal of the army, unsuccessfully trying to storm Sevastopol. Here, the 813 mm siege cannon "Dora" was used to suppress Soviet coastal batteries equipped with 305-mm guns.

The excessively large staff serving the installation here on the eastern front had to be increased by additional security forces, since from the first days of arrival on the peninsula the cannon and its calculation were attacked by partisans. As you know, railway artillery is very vulnerable to air strikes, so to cover the gun from the raids of aviation had to use an additional anti-aircraft battalion. He was also joined by a chemical unit, whose task was to create smoke screens.

Preparation of a fighting position for the beginning of the shelling

The place for the installation of the gun was selected with special care. He was personally commanded by the combination of heavy guns, General Zuckerort, during the flight from the air. He chose one of the mountains in which a wide incision was made to equip the fighting position. In order to provide technical control, Krupp sent its specialists engaged in the development and manufacture of guns to the combat operations area.

The design features of the gun made it possible to move the barrel only in an upright position, so to change the direction of shooting (horizontally), the Dora gun was placed on a special platform that moved along an arc of steeply curved railroad tracks. To move it, two powerful diesel locomotives were used.

The works on the installation of the artillery installation and its preparation for shooting were completed by the beginning of June 1942. To increase the fire impact on the fortifications of Sevastopol, the Germans used, besides the "Dora", two more self-propelled units "Karl". The caliber of their trunks was 60 cm. They were also powerful and destructive tools.

Memories of the participants in the events

Remained eyewitness accounts of the memorable day of June 5, 1942. They talk about how two powerful locomotives rolled out on the rail arch of this monster weighing 1350 tons. It should be installed to within a centimeter, which was done by a team of machinists. For the first shot, a shell weighing 7 tons was placed in the charge part of the gun.

An aerostat ascended into the air, the task of the crew of which included adjusting the fire. When the preparations were completed, the entire calculation of the gun was taken to shelters that were several hundred meters away. From the same eyewitnesses it is known that the return on the shot was so strong that the rails on which the platform was standing went to the ground for five centimeters.

Useless work of military art

Military historians disagree on the number of shots that the German gun Dora made in Sevastopol made. Based on the data of the Soviet command, there were forty-eight of them. This corresponds to the technical resource of the trunk, which can not withstand more of them (then it needs to be replaced). German sources say that the gun produced no less than eighty shots, after which, during the next raid of Soviet bombers, a power train was put out of action.

In general, the Wehrmacht command was forced to admit that Hitler's praised cannon "Dora" did not justify the hopes placed on her. With all the costs incurred, the effectiveness of the fire was minimal. Only one successful entry into the ammunition depot, located at a distance of twenty-seven kilometers, was recorded. The rest of the multi-ton shells fell down without any benefit, leaving deep craters behind them in the ground.

Defensive structures did not cause any harm, since they could be destroyed only as a result of direct hits. The statement about this gun by the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces of the Wehrmacht, Colonel-General Franz Halder has been preserved. He said that the biggest cannon of Dora is just a useless work of art. It is difficult to add anything to the judgment of this military specialist.

Wrath of the Fuhrer and new plans

Such disappointing results, shown during the fighting with the Dora gun, provoked the Fuehrer's anger. He placed great hopes on this project. According to his calculations, the gun, despite the prohibitively high costs associated with its manufacture, was to go into mass production and, thus, make a significant change in the balance of forces on the fronts. In addition, the serial production of a gun of this scale was to testify to the industrial potential of Germany.

After the failure in the Crimea, the designers of Krupp tried to improve their offspring. It was supposed to be a completely different heavy artillery installation "Dora". The gun was supposed to be super-long-range, and it was to be used on the Western Front. In its design, it was planned to make fundamental changes, allowing, according to the authors' intention, to fire three-stage rockets. But such plans, fortunately, did not happen to be realized.

During the war years, in addition to the cannon "Dora", the Germans launched yet another super-heavy gun with a caliber of eighty centimeters. It received the name in honor of the head of the firm Krupp Gustav Krupp von Bollen - Tolstoy Gustav. This gun, costing Germany ten million marks, was also unsuitable for use, like the "Dora". The gun had practically all the same numerous shortcomings and very limited dignities. At the end of the war, both installations were blown up by the Germans.